The Loop Vol. 2 No. 1

Featuring H&M, Disney and Logan Paul!

WINS

BLESS UP, WEIGH DOWN

The song of this past summer had to be DJ Khaled’s Wild Thoughts. Now, the man behind the music has moved onto another W – Weight Watchers, that is. Previous ambassadors Oprah and Jennifer Hudson were inspirational, relevant and ultimately unsurprising. Khaled on the other hand? Total curveball, totally inspired. His social media channels are already very personal and regularly reference his struggles with his weight for the millions following along. Khaled’s work as ambassador will play out across his social channels as well, broadcasting his slim-down journey – all in the name of attracting more men to sign up for Weight Watchers. Two take-aways here: a) it worked. Weight Watchers reported that their stocks are already up by 8%. b) the days of the celebrity influencer are not quite over – as a clever play like this can still prove value, in comparison to a well-executed micro-influencer campaign.
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THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH

You can now rest easy during your stay at The Happiest Place on Earth. Disney World just implemented a major change impacting all resorts on the property; “Do Not Disturb” signs have been removed from guest rooms, replaced with signs that read, “Room Occupied”. With the change, Disney’s staff and hotel now “reserve the right to enter your room for any purposes including, but not limited to, performing maintenance and repairs or checking on the safety and security of guests and property”. ANY purposes. Just making sure you got that. Though Disney hasn’t confirmed a tie, the recent horrific hotel shooting in Las Vegas was the likely inspiration for their decision. And, yes, some at first may view the change as an invasion of privacy. But at the end of the day you can’t argue with the fact that keeping customers safe is just good business.
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FAILS

H&M RUNS FOR THE HILLS

H&M is in BOILING hot water right now – for an offending ad, and now seemingly lackluster apology. The Swedish retailer launched their latest online ad in the U.K. over the weekend, depicting an African American child wearing a sweatshirt with text reading "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle." Cue consumers’ justifiable rage over the racist oversight, leading to the image being taken down first thing Monday morning and H&M issuing a brief apology. When asked how the brand intends to prevent such issues in the future, a spokeswoman said H&M will be "reviewing our internal routines." Really? That’s it?? The apology didn’t sit well with (former) H&M spokesperson The Weeknd either, who tweeted that he would no longer work with them. The singer had collaborated with the retailer on clothing collections, the most recent of which debuted this past fall. Get this -- by 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, The Weeknd’s tweet had been retweeted almost 103,000 times and "liked" over 230,000 times! Your move, H&M – and it better be a good one.
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IS LOGAN PAUL OVER?

Logan Paul is a self-stylised ‘maverick’ YouTube creator, a (former) hero to children and teens, with a follower count of almost 15 million. We’ve all heard about the infamous video he posted last week - showing a dead body hanging in Japan’s Aokigahara Forest (known as ‘The Suicide Forest’). Cue, understandably, an internet firestorm directed at both Paul AND YouTube. The star apologized (twice) and removed the video, citing that he realizes suicide isn’t a laughing matter and that he didn’t think his actions through before posting. YouTube is also on the receiving end of ire; not only for allowing the video to appear, but also for posting it on their front page as a trending video. This mess highlights an ongoing concern with YouTube: content creators are not regulated in the same way as TV stations, and YouTube is simply shirking the blame for its inadequate content policies, as they claim they are just a ‘platform’. This story just has FAIL written all over it.
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WEIRD

ARE YOU DTF?

In the age of dating apps, daters who dare, win. Well popular dating app OkCupid has dared, too - and it may have paid off. Aiming to compete with younger, cooler siblings Tinder and Bumble, the 13-year-old dating platform’s most recent campaign gives a new meaning to the lewd acronym ‘DTF’. Instead of the original meaning, which we’ll let you explore on your own, the brand is replacing the ‘F’ with family-friendly alternatives, such as ‘fifty-five-hour binge”, “filter out the far right” and “forget our baggage”. Not only are the phrases kind of bizarre, the accompanying visuals are very dad-joke and only get weirder. Is this dad trying to blend in with the cool kids, a la David Cameron thinking LOL meant ‘Lots of Love’? (Awks). We’re not sure, however, the brand has got people talking and we’re interested to see how they follow up on the campaign.
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WHEN MEMES GO MAINSTREAM, A CAUTIONARY TALE

Last month when the latest Star Wars film premiered, fans flocked to social media to share their excitement. Though it seemed that, instead of simply sharing their movie reviews, they were taking part in an increasingly popular (but silly) internet challenge. The Kylo Ren Challenge, to be exact, which called for selfies of fans in their best low-budget cosplay and classic wide-legged stance of the film’s antagonist, Kylo Ren. Oh, and everyone was shirtless, for some reason. But here’s the good part. Apparently, singer John Mayer wanted to get in on the fun – but was rejected by true Star Wars fans, who saw it as a sign of mainstream invasion. Thus, John Mayer had killed the meme. I mean, look at that photo! LOL. So, did this meme start as a clever marketing ploy from the film’s production company? Probably. But now, thanks to John Mayer, it’s over and we can all move on.
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